Narendra Modi wrested the top job in the country on Friday as a saffron wave swept large swathes of India, lifting the Bharatiya Janata Party to its highest-ever tally and leaving Congress in tatters.Underlining the humiliation of India’s oldest party, vice-president Rahul Gandhi struggled initially against the BJP’s Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi, and several senior ministers bit the dust.Modi led the BJP back to power after a decade in opposition, taking advantage of public anger at Congress for uncontrolled high prices, corruption scams and rising unemployment.The triumph capped an amazing run for the 63-year-old chief minister of Gujarat, who ran a high-voltage campaign that rewrote the political rulebook and caught his rivals napping.The Congress’ incumbency problems were compounded by a listless showing from Rahul, who failed to grab the public imagination. Congress conceded defeat, but carefully couched its comments to prevent blame falling on the Gandhi scion. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet will resign on Saturday.Modi, who won from both Vadodara and Varanasi, tweeted “India has won!” and went to seek the blessings of his 90-year-old mother Hiraben in Ahmedabad. He will hold victory rallies in Ahmedabad and Vadodara later in the day, before heading to Varanasi on Saturday to offer thanks, and then on to Delhi, his new home.At 3:20 pm IST, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance led in 335 seats, comfortably hurdling the 272 halfway mark needed to grab power. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance was limping in at 60, heading for its worst-ever tally. Leads and results from all 543 seats were in.Narendra Modi wrested the top job in the country on Friday as a saffron wave swept large swathes of India, lifting the Bharatiya Janata Party to its highest-ever tally and leaving Congress in tatters.Underlining the humiliation of India’s oldest party, vice-president Rahul Gandhi struggled initially against the BJP’s Smriti Irani in the Gandhi family bastion of Amethi, and several senior ministers bit the dust.Modi led the BJP back to power after a decade in opposition, taking advantage of public anger at Congress for uncontrolled high prices, corruption scams and rising unemployment.The triumph capped an amazing run for the 63-year-old chief minister of Gujarat, who ran a high-voltage campaign that rewrote the political rulebook and caught his rivals napping.The Congress’ incumbency problems were compounded by a listless showing from Rahul, who failed to grab the public imagination. [wzslider autoplay=”true” transition=”‘slide'” info=”true” lightbox=”true”]